Frugal Christmas wrapping...

...that doesn't look cheap.

 A couple of years ago I bought a great big roll of brown wrapping paper. It cost about a fiver, and I'm still using it! I think it makes presents look really classy, and because it is neutral I have used it for every event, including birthdays and weddings. Once the gifts is wrapped, I tie it up with string, and add a brown card parcel tag. I bought a huge pack of those from a newsagents a long time ago, and it seems like they will last for ever! The gift looks pretty cute and 'retro' just like that, but I do like to add a bit more embellishment. A couple of holly leaves snipped from the garden, and tucked into the string looks cute, and is very Eco-friendly, of course. A little bauble or two that won't fit on the Christmas tree looks great. In fact, you can buy them so cheaply from supermarkets and pound shops that getting a few just for wrapping is a pretty frugal option. After Christmas lays year I bought a pack of little wooden cut out shapes from Paperchase. There is no way I would have paid full price, but they only cost a few pence and they will look great on this years gifts. Usually, though, I try not to buy embellishments. I would much, much rather use what I have to hand. I don't buy ribbon, but I save whatever bits come my way, including those bits sewn into clothes to help them stay on hangers. They hang out of your clothes annoyingly, so I often snip them off. I don't throw them away, though, because they might come in handy for fastening around small gifts. I save tissue paper, and use that to wrap gifts. I have a few little self-inking Christmas stamps that I sometimes use to decorate the parcel tags. I often use a gold pen, or a nice bold, black felt tip pen to write the tag. I can't do real calligraphy, but I do my best to make my handwriting an attractive feature.

 After Christmas last year I bought some make your own cracker kits very cheaply from Hobbycraft. I intend to make some nice crackers to go on the table or Christmas lunch, but I have more than I need, and it occurs to me that they would make a great 'wrapping' for small gifts, such as little scented candles.